Discussion Question #2 Week 1
How might you apply ethical philosophies and principles that summarize what you perceive to be the top five ethical issues challenging health care delivery today?
What I perceive to be the top five ethical issues challenging health care delivery today are the following: * Avoiding conflicts of interest * Balancing profits with quality of care * Equal treatment of all patients * Managing decision making capacity of the elderly and very young patients * Addressing nurses moral distress when providing care with minimal benefits
The ethical philosophies and principles that would summarize these issues for me would be a combination of the Natural Law ethical theory, and the Utilitarianism ethical theory. These theories would summarize the top five ethical issues I perceive to be a challenge in health care today.
Describe at least two ethical principles discussed in this week's reading material. Apply those principles to two examples of ethical challenges that exist in the delivery of health care today. Do these principles assist in overcoming the challenge or do they create more of an ethical dilemma? Why?
Natural Law Ethical Theory- This principle of ethics is defined as the position that rational reflection on nature, will yield principles of good and bad that can guide human action toward fulfillment or flourishing.
Utilitarianism- This principle of ethics is defined as acting so as to do the greatest good for the greatest number.
Today's health care field faces many ethical challenges. One ethical challenge that healthcare facilities face is the moral distress of its nurses when they are providing care that they feel provides minimal medical benefits and no quality of life. Bedside nurses face distress in this situation because they may not feel that they are helping or even assisting the patient in any way,